Newsplatform… Youtube?
Always there, always new. Well… almost always. But most certainly without animal videos inbetween!
The Tagesschau does not only run its own Internet platform — neither do ABC, CNN, the BBC and countless other networks. With Youtube being quite one of the largest markets that are not Facebook, it’s only natural that large news networks like the idea of getting involed in the opportunities Youtube opens up: Videos for the masses, even outside of the country.
I have found myself poking through the YT-channel of the Tagesschau, curious how they use the platform people like me frequent regularly. To my surprise, I find old news. It is as if I am looking at an archive of Tagesschau shows, rather than a distribution platform.
On the other hand, however, they have a series of videos “Kurzerklärt” where they answer common questions about current topics in a short format, understandable for John Doe and Max Mustermann.
It seems as if their Youtube platform is not primarily about delivering and sharing news than for acessibility. With the ARD mediathek being geo-locked, Youtube is the way for outsiders to use the Tagesschau, for example. But their Youtube channel is also useful for research matters when trying to find older videos.
But what about the others?
The first step from here for me are checking out other news outlets and comparing them. The Youtube channel of the BBC, for example, is made up of single news segments rather than a recording of whole news shows. This makes filtering easier for the user who may not be interested in all the things that have happened fairly recent.
My next stop was CNN because it is one of the first American news networks that come to my mind. Their videos also have individual segments as well — however, what has struck me immediately is the flood of videos that are full of politicians and experts giving their accounts. What is probably a cultural difference among news networks around the world, is particularly noticeable on Youtube.
But are there any new news?
The next interesting thing me is whether there is anyone making use of Youtube’s live stream function.
Indeed, there are several platforms that stream live over Youtube, including the BBC, CNN, Fox News, Sky News. But not the Tagesschau.
On the German side, we have DW News, the Deutsche Welle. They pose as an international source for German news over the Internet. So while Youtube as a news platform is probably not as developed as it could be, it is definitely not completely ignored either.
Youtube has a lot of potential that is also used for being an alternative news platform. Accessible and international, it is simple for large news networks to share their product with the world.
